


Trapped in This Escape Room (But I Can't Escape Your Love)

by danigobingo



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Escape Room Date, F/M, First Date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 13:18:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17829293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danigobingo/pseuds/danigobingo
Summary: Nia watched as Kara walked away and entered James’s office before turning back to her computer. She stared at the escape room’s website, weighing the options in her mind. She would be killing two birds with one stone essentially if she took Brainy to this escape room…Swallowing her hesitation, Nia picked up her phone and called Brainy. “Brainy, hey. I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me tomorrow.”----------------Nia needs to write an article, but she also wants to go on a date with Brainy, so she decides to kill two birds with one stone.





	Trapped in This Escape Room (But I Can't Escape Your Love)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Windripple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windripple/gifts).



> Wasn't what you were expecting when I returned from hiatus was it.
> 
> Fair warning, I have never been to an escape room so I don't necessarily know how they operate, so if I got anything wrong, please forgive me.
> 
> Thanks to Pirina/Kakashi-Chidori, fishingwild, and nerdyninja13 for reviewing this beforehand. I love you guys!

Nia stared at the blank page before her, its emptiness mocking her as it stared right back at her. She groaned. She was supposed to be writing an article about what was new and trendy in National City, a kind of fluff piece if you will; she would be rather writing about the reopening of Shelley Island after the defeat of the Children of Liberty, but Mackenzie had pitched that idea before her… _again_ …so she was saddled with this small, almost meaningless piece. And Nia didn’t know why she was struggling so much. Everything she looked up online either didn’t catch her eye or had been around for the past few years. There was that new escape room that had opened a month ago on 4th Street, but Nia didn’t have any desire to go, at least not alone. All of her friends were busy with work and this article was due at the end of the week, and escape rooms were generally group things. Nia groaned again as she ran her hand through her hair. Why wasn’t she quicker with her pitch?

“Hey Nia! What you looking at?”

The chipper sound of Kara’s voice hit Nia’s ears like a baseball bat and she nearly jumped out of her seat in surprise.

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry!” Kara quickly apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

Nia exhaled loudly. “I—I’m doing okay. A little shaken, but okay.”

“I meant with the article.”

“Oh. Oh, well that—that is going…less okay.”

Kara frowned. “What’s wrong?” She looked over Nia’s shoulder and saw her screen. “The Great Escape Room, huh? Not really all that original, but it sounds like fun.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Nia shrugged. “I’m supposed to write about what’s new and exciting in the city and this is what I found.”

“Well, why don’t you go?”

“I don’t want to go alone.”

“Take Brainy then.”

Nia furrowed her brow. “Brainy?”

“Yeah! It sounds right up his alley and I think you two would have a lot of fun.”

“I don’t know…I mean, we haven’t exactly been on a date yet.”

Kara’s eyes widened. “WHAT?”

“Not so loud, please!” Nia shushed.

“Nia, you’ve been dating each other for the past three months. You guys work together for crying out loud! How have you not gone out on an actual date yet?”

“I mean…we kind of did a while back,” Nia explained. “He asked me out, or at least I thought he did, but he just wanted to talk about me joining…your other half.”

“Ah,” Kara nodded in understanding. “Yeah, Brainy isn’t the most savvy when it comes to social conventions. You have to be really forward with him. Just ask him. I can guarantee you he’ll say yes.”

“You sure?”

“Positive,” Kara beamed. “I have to go talk with James about this article, but let me know how it goes, okay?”

“Okay, yeah, sure.”

Nia watched as Kara walked away and entered James’s office before turning back to her computer. She stared at the escape room’s website, weighing the options in her mind. She would be killing two birds with one stone essentially if she took Brainy to this escape room…

Swallowing her hesitation, Nia picked up her phone and called Brainy. “Brainy, hey. I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me tomorrow.”

 

\------------------------------------------------------------

 

Brainy showed up at Nia’s apartment the following afternoon with a large bouquet of flowers, claiming that bringing a gift of some sort is customary when dating. Nia accepted the flowers before they headed out to the escape room. Nia was surprised at how excited Brainy sounded over the phone when she told him about going to the escape room, but she was just happy that he was excited. As they were walking up, Nia could feel her body shaking with jitters, and she didn’t know the reason why. Probably because she and Brainy were doing something that wasn’t superhero-related, that they were going on an actual date for the first time in months.

For the first time _ever_ , in fact.

“You seem nervous,” Brainy said, bringing Nia back out of her mind. “Is it because we are about to be trapped in a room for a specified amount of time with the intense pressure of escaping in that time or less?”

Nia blinked, but shook her head. “No, no, it’s not that. It’s…well, we haven’t done anything like this before.”

“Done activities together?” Brainy inquired. “We’ve done several activities together before, Nia Nal.”

“I know, but nothing really like this. Like a date.”

Brainy’s brows rose. “Ah. Of course. I suppose I am to blame for that.”

“What to you mean?”

“We have both been in a relationship for the past several weeks, yet I have not taken you out on what everyone considers a proper date,” Brainy explained. “And for that, I apologize.”

Nia smiled, her chest filling up with warmth. “Brainy, you have nothing to apologize for. We’ve both been really busy with work, so it’s fine.”

“Wonderful,” Brainy said, clasping his hands together. Nia rolled her eyes; Brainy really didn’t understand social cues. Nevertheless, she found it endearing. “Now we can focus on having fun!”

Nia laughed as she shook her head. “Whatever you say, Brainy.”

The two entered the facility and checked in with the receptionist before being led back to a decent size room that was titled “Space Room” that was, of course, made to look like the interior of a spaceship, the bridge to be exact. The walls were a dark grey steel with black screens adorning them; there was a command console with chairs in front of it with more black screens and buttons on the tabletop; and there were a few pillars propping up a few pieces of sci-fi paraphernalia, such as a futuristic-looking device that resembled a Rubik’s cube and a silver tablet with four red dashes across the screen. There were also some space blasters lining the wall behind them next to a small experimenting area that resembled a lab. Nia’s eyes widened; this was mighty impressive. She looked over at Brainy, who was examining the main seat—the captain’s seat—and running his hand over it. “Brainy?”

The Coluan looked up and over at Nia. “Yes?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. This…this all just reminds me of my old life.”

Nia’s heart ached for her boyfriend. “You never told me about what you used to do before the DEO. I understand if you don’t want to or if you’re not ready…”

“It’s alright, Nia,” Brainy said softly. “I was part of a team before I came to work for the DEO. Another superhero team, actually, and I was a valuable asset.”

“What happened?”

Brainy hesitated, folding his hands behind his back and looking down for a bit before looking back up at Nia. “Something happened where I had no choice but to take a leave of absence for my own safety. If I had stayed, I surely would have perished.”

“Oh, Brainy, I’m so sorry.”

“Do not be sorry, Nia Nal. I am not because I would not have met you otherwise.”

Nia could feel the color rise in her cheeks, so she quickly looked away in an attempt to hide it. “I’m really glad I met you too.”

Brainy smiled, something he rarely ever does, which spiked Nia’s heart rate and made her smile as well. Just then, the lights turned a warning red and a disembodied voice sounds through the speakers.

“ _Greetings, new crew members. There has been a mutiny on board and the captain has been taken captive by his rogue crew members. Unfortunately, they have locked all the doors and have also trapped you on the bridge, and the only way out is to find and use the various symbols hidden on the bridge to override the locks and save the captain, but you only have one hour to do so. The captain is counting on you._ ”

As the lights returned to normal, the door locked behind them and Brainy and Nia shared a look.

The race was on.

“Okay—okay—okay,” Nia stammered, her heart rate rising as the stress began to set in. “Where do you think we should start?”

“Nia Nal, relax,” Brainy said. “Relax. Think of this as a training exercise, similar to the ones we conduct at the DEO. We are trapped here in this room while a terrifying villain is holding Supergirl hostage.”

“That’s not really helping, Brainy.”

“We have to save her,” Brainy continued, “and we don’t have much time to do so. How will we proceed?”

Nia swallowed nervously and began to look around the room, trying to find out where to start. The first clue could be anywhere. After doing an initial eye-sweep of the room, her eyes landed back on the tablet and the four red dashes across the screen and she headed over to it, picking it up and examining it. “Okay, so we find the symbols and we input them here.” Her eyes scanned the room once more. “We just have to find out where they are.”

“Of course,” Brainy said. “And it appears that we need four of them in order to break out of here. Would you like me to run an algorithm to determine where these symbols are?”

“Brainy, we’re supposed to actually solve this.”

“I am solving it.”

“ _Together_ , Brainy!”

Brainy held his hands up in defeat. “You’re right. I was the one who said this was like a training exercise, after all. Alright, Nia Nal, I shall let you take the reigns on this one.”

Nia furrowed her brow, but couldn’t help but smile. “Where did you hear that?”

“Winslow a little before he left. You would’ve liked him, Nia Nal.”

Nia nodded. “Okay, I think the best place to start would be the captain’s log.”

“A good guess, but I do not think a physical symbol will be located in an auditory log.”

“Ah, you’re probably right.” Nia’s eyes flitted around the room. “How about the computers? A symbol would have to be on one of those, right?”

“An interesting thought, Nia Nal. Let us check it out.”

They both headed down to the computers down near the front of the room and Nia sat down at the closest one to her. She clicked on a few keys, which caused the screen to light up and reveal several messages between two people. “Brainy, look at these.”

Brainy leant down next to Nia and examined the messages. “Ah. These must be between one of the rogue crew members and what appears to be an outside party. This mutiny was pre-meditated.”

“It seems that way.” Nia scrolled through the messages, her eyes narrowing when she noticed something unusual. “Wait, Brainy, check this out.” She pointed at the screen. “Look at this.”

“It is a message, Nia Nal, what of it?”

Nia shoots Brainy a look. “There were four crew members that rebelled against the captain, at least that’s what I assume from the names listed here. Each crew member has a different job or station on a ship like this, right?”

“This isn’t a real ship, Nia Nal, but your assumption is correct. Each crew member has a certain talent that makes them a valuable asset for the mission given to them.”

Nia smiled. “There are reports on here too, status updates on the mission along with profiles of each of the crew members. One of them was an engineer, one was a weapons expert, one was a scientist, and the other was a linguist.”

“All common officers to have aboard.”

“What if the symbols correlate with each of their positions?” Nia inquired. “That would make the most sense, I think.”

It was Brainy’s turn to smile. “Excellent, Nia Nal. Who do you suggest we start with?”

“Wait, there’s something else here.” Nia clicked on a new document, her eyes widening when she read its contents. “This is a letter from the linguist to the outside party. But look at each first letter of every fourth word.”

Brainy narrowed his eyes. “It appears to be that they are warped in some fashion. Perhaps if we put the letters together…”

“They might create the linguist’s symbol.”

Brainy grinned. “I must admit, Nia Nal, your intellect is vastly higher than I previously perceived it.”

“Thank you…I think.”

The two got to working on sketching out the warped letters on the notepad that Nia brought, trying to figure out how they would be able to form a shape with them. It took some time, but they eventually managed to successfully form a symbol out of the letters.

“We did it!” Nia exclaimed. “Just three more to go.”

“ _Attention. Forty-five minutes remaining._ ”

Nia and Brainy looked at each other nervously. “How about the weapons expert next?”

“Sounds good.”

Nia and Brainy worked efficiently together, managing to solve each puzzle as it came up; for the weapons expert, they had to use the gun, which had a laser pointer, to locate the symbol hidden on the wall next to the other space blasters; for the engineer, they had to rebuild the cube which had that symbol on its side; and for the scientist, they had to go to the lab and dissect the alien carcass on the table to locate the symbol. Once they managed to find all of them, Nia inputted the code and the door unlocked, causing her to shout in victory and hug Brainy.

“We did it!”

“That we did,” Brainy said. “But it was you who figured it out. You are extraordinary, Nia Nal.”

Nia smiled, feeling the blush creep up her neck as she placed a kiss on Brainy’s cheek. “So are you. This was an amazing first date.”

And when they walked out, Nia couldn’t help but look forward to the next one with Brainy.


End file.
